Manchester United have boasted some incredible centre backs over the years and the current back line could certainly learn a thing or two from defenders of the past.
United gave up more than 30 shots against Brentford on Saturday evening and this has been a running them all season long.
Only Sheffield United – the team bottom of the Premier League and 10 points adrift of safety – have conceded more shots per game than United this season.
United’s vulnerability at the back is frankly unbelievable and we can only imagine what some of the great United centre backs from years gone by are thinking.
Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister spring to mind, as does the imposing nature of Jaap Stam; oh how United fans would love to see defenders like those right now.
Bruce and Pallister was quite the partnership but one duo is not only considered to be one of United’s best, but one of the best in Premier League history.
Rio Ferdinand on Nemanja Vidic
The partnership between Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic was frankly ridiculous.
Ferdinand’s pace, poise and ball-playing ability was just the perfect blend with Vidic’s aggression and raw physicality.
United had one of the meanest defences in the Premier League with Ferdinand partnering Vidic before they left the club in 2014.
United fans will always love Vidic but it’s easy to forget that he had a rather tricky start to life in the Premier League.
Snapped up from Spartak Moscow for £7million in January 2006, United actually beat Liverpool to Vidic’s signature.
Vidic struggled in a reserve team game according to former teammate Phil Marsh and former defensive partner Ferdinand has now admitted that the doubts were were widespread.
Ferdinand has told Stick to Football that Vidic was ‘so bad’ in training that players were suggesting that he should have been sent back to Moscow.
Ferdinand added that Wayne Rooney was particularly unimpressed, believing that Vidic was ‘terrible’ in training in his early days at United.
“Do you remember when he first signed? The lads were saying ‘he needs to go back’ – he was so bad in training,” said Ferdinand.
“I remember Wazza coming up to me after playing against him in training, saying like ‘he is terrible – he can’t play for us, send him back’. He’s playing against Louis Saha, Rooney, Cristiano, I think Tevez might have been there, them four in training every day, imagine! That’s difficult, harder than most games on a Saturday. But what I would say is that grit and determination and that perseverance to better himself, he used to look at his body and say ‘wow, look at the state of me’, he used to question his body all the time, then he’d go in the gym,” he added.
Vidic turnaround shows patience can win
Many fans – and seemingly players – were doubting that Vidic could make the grade at United.
The rise from the Russian top flight to the Premier League was a huge one at the time and still is to this day.
Not many players have moved straight from Russia to the Premier League and enjoyed success.
Vidic did just that though and it required a little bit of patience from Sir Alex Ferguson to create a United and Premier League legend.
Vidic is proof that players can just have slow starts and eventually improve to become a hero and perhaps that should be remembered a little more – especially when United fans are so desperate to see success at the moment.